Dear Families,
We hope that you have had a restful and enjoyable break. We wanted to share some moments from Friendship Week, as well as invite you to our 100th Day Celebration on Tuesday, February 28 from 8:30am – 9:00am.

During Friendship Week, we encouraged kids to do acts of kindness to many people in the classroom, but having a specific Secret Pal was a way to connect and get to know a classmate better. The kids shared a handwritten note on Monday, Valentines for the class and acts of kindness on Tuesday, Wednesday was a handmade item, Thursday was a gently used book they thought their buddy might like. Friday was decorating cookies (thank you, families, for sending in cookies, royal icing, and sprinkles!) and writing an acrostic poem for their Secret Pal. Kids were able to finally guess who the Secret Pals were and they were revealed when they gave their Secret Pal the decorated cookie. Thank you also, Molly and Melissa for joining us to help with the cookie decorating. Some of the Temescalians took it upon themselves to see how tall they could make the frosting and sprinkles on each cookie!

We also had some heart related STEAM challenges this week. One task was to make the highest paper heart tower. The stipulations were that each group had one sheet of 8″ x 12″ sheet of construction paper, one pair of scissors, one glue stick, and a ruler. Each heart had to have a point at the bottom and two rounded parts at the top. Their tower had to be finished within 25 minutes. The Temescalians had to work as a group to decide how best to divide the work and construct the hearts. Temesccalians quickly noted hearts with even sides were more sturdy. Some tried stacking the hearts with alternating points on top of rounded parts while others tried making a larger base on the bottom before building up on top. Some even tried to fold and stuff hearts in the center of the hearts to give their tower more stability.

Another challenge was to make the longest chain of hearts. This time, we gave each group a 12″ x 18″ sheet of construction paper, one pair of scissors, one stapler, and a ruler. They had 25 minutes and the hearts had to have two rounded tops and a point. The kids were mixed into different groups and this changed dynamics of the groups from the previous challenge. One group worked together to cut the paper in half so that part of the group could continue to make lines with the ruler while the other members of the group started cutting. This group had hearts with all the same dimensions and finished with ample time to spare. Some Temescalians noted that if the hearts were too thin, they might break when they were stretched out. These groups tested out different widths to see what would happen with the length of their heart chain. In the end, the paper heart chains came in to be over 100 cm!

While the challenges were a vehicle for group work, in later discussions, we talked about how group work was actually the main point of the activity. Some groups needed more guidance than others to talk about which ideas to go with, as well as ways to divide the work. Some kids thought that if we changed groups everyone would have a better time. This led us to the idea that even if you change a group, and your attitude stays the same, it won’t matter what group you’re in if you’re going to be stubborn and critical.

Temescalians used Chromebooks and read on the Epic! website and Dreambox. We can send home the login information on Monday with the homework packet if you’d like to log into our class specific Epic! and Dreambox websites. We have yet to finish cursive so we have yet to begin Typing Club so please put that on the back burner for now!

We celebrated a Temescalian’s half birthday! It’s so fun to see our Temescalians as younger people!

1,000 Project due on Monday, February 27!
Just a reminder that your Temescalian’s contribution for the local ecosystem 1,000 Project is due tomorrow WITH the green explanation sheet. We invite grownups to join us on Tuesday, February 28 from 8:30 – 9:00am to come into the K-3 classrooms to look at the 100 collections and 1,000 Projects! Please note that meters don’t start until 9:00am. We look forward to seeing everyone’s projects tomorrow, and we can’t wait to see grownups on Tuesday on the TBS campus!

Upcoming Events
February
27 – 1,000 Projects due in class WITH the green explanation sheet
28 – 100th Day showcase of 100 collections and 1,000 Projects in the K-3 classrooms from 8:30 – 9:00am

March
1 – Sending home the 1,000 Projects after school. Please plan your pickup mode of transportation accordingly!
9 & 10 – Parent Teacher Conferences (no school, check in with Jono for childcare options)
13 – Celebrate Pi Day! (Please bring in a pie to share if you’d like!)
14 – Field Trip to Coyote Hills Regional Park (via parent carpool)
17 – Minimum Day (pick up at 12:20pm, no childcare)
24 – Family Reading (8:30 – 9:00am in Temescal Creek)

April
3 to 7 – Spring Break (no school, contact Jono for childcare options)
21 – Family Reading (8:30 – 9:00am in Temescal Creek)
24 to 28 – Readathon Week and Spirit Week